During an appearance on the latest episode of Talk Is Jericho, W.A.S.P.’s Blackie Lawless was asked if he was surprised by the fan response to the band’s first U.S. tours in 10 years.
“We didn’t know what to expect, but we found over the years, if you invest in what you do, hopefully you’ll get return on it. And what I mean by that is you make the best records you can make, but also when it comes time to do the tour, you’ve gotta spend the money,” he explained, letting his fans know that it costs a lot to do the shows. “This is not a cheap show that we do out here. It’s expensive. It’s expensive to get built, it’s expensive to start up. The weekly running costs, you don’t wanna know about it. I mean, it’s not cheap.”
“I understand that in a lot of situations, a lot of artists aren’t able to do that, and I understand that, but this is not a situation where we do fly dates. We just can’t. It’s too expensive of a production,” the singer continued. “And we hope that the fans recognize that when they see what we do, because we literally take a Broadway stage with us when we go. We have two different — well, three, if you wanna get technical — but we have two primary set changes you will see between the first half of the show and the second half of the show. And it’s just like seeing any other Broadway production, if you would go to New York or something like that.”
“So to set that stuff up on a daily basis, you’ve gotta have a lot of personnel, you’ve gotta spend the money to start with, so it’s detailed, to say the least. But that’s the way we used to do it, and to try to give people the best bang for the buck, I still think that that’s the best way to do it,” he added.
W.A.S.P. hasn’t toured the U.S. in a decade, but they plan to make up for it with their tour. Given the controversy that Blackie Lawless & Co.’s live shows stirred up during their early years, some might wonder if the frontman is concerned about causing a stir again. Apparently, he isn’t worried at all.
“I’m not gonna even consider a woke culture. That has nothing to do with my world,” Lawless explained why he isn’t concerned about ‘cancel culture’ interfering with the tour. “If that’s what somebody wants to do that’s their privilege. Free country. But our fan base is our fan base. So, one of the things I learned a long time ago is that if you’re going to have a genuine career…”
The singer added: “I’m talking about somebody who’s around 20 years, 30 years, longer. What you’re saying, in effect, is you’re going to take that fan base on a lifelong ride. And if you’re going to do that, you have to have an intimate relationship with them. And if you don’t have that intimate relationship, they will never feel like they know you.”
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of W.A.S.P.’s classic debut album, the band is performing the entire album from start to finish for the first time in 40 years. This will take place during their fall 2024 North American tour, called ‘Album ONE Alive,’ with Armored Saint providing support.
The ‘Album ONE Alive’ tour began on October 26 at the Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo, California. The 39-city tour will make stops across North America, including in Vancouver, British Columbia; Toronto, Ontario; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Dallas, Texas; New York City; Orlando, Florida; and more. The tour will end on Saturday, December 14 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, California.
